Prior networked systems for transferring clinical study information from remote sites typically used personal computers or work stations operating with a specific Windows or Macintosh or UNIX operating system and using various communications software programs to communicate through telephone lines from remote sites. This required updating software individually at each site as upgrades or other changes were needed, and the data was typically communicated in unencrypted form.
Prior known systems for managing the distribution of prescriptions have been located at the pharmacy distribution centers, and have not typically had input from clinical study investigators, such as physicians, over the Internet.